Two weeks ago today, three of my
friends and myself went on the Wild Africa Trek.
It was my second time on the amazing backstage
experience and I noticed a few additions since
the first time I did it back in 2011. One of my
favorite details that was added throughout the
hiking portion was this map:

While the map does depict the
many places guests travel past on Kilimanjaro
Safaris, I found it quite interesting that we
finally could see the names of the various
locations we pass while on safari! As with
everything else in Harambe, the names of
locations are all typically Swahili. Let's take
a closer look starting with the right side of
the map:

While at first you may notice
the majority of the names here are ones we are
already familiar with (Research Center,
Underwater Obersvation, Savannah Overlook,
Gorilla Outpost), there's one that we have seen
several times in the past that some people may
not know the translation for: Pangani Forest
Exploration Trail. Pangani is Swahili for
Enchanted meaning the actual name of the trail
is the Enchanted Forest Exploration Trail.

Slight above and to the left of
the Underwater Observation is a sign which reads
Mtafiti Camps. Mtafiti is Swahili for Researcher
meaning this is where the researchers for the
reserve stay over night. To the left of that we
se the Safi River which is mentioned quite often
on Kiliminjaro Safaris. Safi stands for clean
meaning clean river, while my personal favorite
translation is for Kiboko Trail with Kiboko
meaning Hippopotamus. The hippo, obviously, is
the animal which can be seen along the trail.

The other side of the map looks
like this:

On the bottom portion of this
map is the Ukungu Forest which is towards the
start of the Kilimanjaro Safari. Ukungu means
fog making this the Fog or Foggy Forest. The
Hippo Research Outpost is located at Hatari
Bend. Hatari means risky. Right around the
corner is where the Nile Crocodile live which,
as we learned from Indiana Jones and the Temple
of Doom, is a risky animal to be above.

Heading towards Hatari Bend on
foot is Mamba Trail. Mamba means crocodiles,
again paying tribute to the animal guests can
see from that vantage point. The bridge guests
pass by vehicle is known as Serikali Bridge.
Interestingly enough, Serikali means Government.
The bridge is a lot more stable than a lot of
the other bridges in the area, so according to
the storyline, it was most likely put in by the
government and the government would want the
people to know that they were the ones who put
it in.

The final location on the map is
Jimbi Forest, the final woodsy area before
making your way to the savannah. Jimbi means
Fern making this the Fern Forest. While not all
the names are extremely clever, they do all pay
tribute to the portion of the Wild Africa Trek
or Kilimanjaro Safari that guests are passing at
that moment while helping bridge the connection
to the land of Harambe a little better.

Below is a video from our Wild
Africa Trek adventure. Until next time, Asante
Sana (Thank you very much)!